Highline School District Picks Former Bellevue School District Superintendent: What Next for Seattle Schools?

 From Highline SD Communications:

The School Board has named Dr. Ivan Duran as Highline’s next superintendent, following a community engagement process that ended with a week of in-person tours, stakeholder meetings and virtual town halls.

So why is this important to we followers of Seattle Public Schools?

1) Duran is now one local superintendent who will not be throwing his hat in the ring for SPS superintendent.

2) Two current senior staffers - Dr. Keshia Scarlett and Dr. Concie Pedroza - were also in the running but Highline picked Dr. Duran so they won't be leaving SPS anytime soon. This is Pedroza's second try for a superintendent job in the Puget Sound region.

3) The district held its first town hall about a new superintendent for SPS last week. It was to be a 3-hour meeting but only lasted about an hour because not many people signed up.

Gee, I wonder why. Did the Board put strict parameters on when you can sign up? They did. It's nonsense but it's a good way to shape the discussion especially if you get ringers to sign up.

The next town hall is tomorrow night from 4-7 pm and you can sign-up today. Sign-up ends tomorrow at 2 pm.

Remote Access Options: 

 

To Listen or Provide Comments by Teleconference (Pregistration Required for Comments): 206-800-4125 (Conference ID: 841 614 395#) 

To Provide Comments Online by Microsoft Teams (Pregistration Required for Comments): Those who preregister to provide public comment may provide their comments using the above call-in details or via Microsoft Teams using the link that will be provided in the registration confirmation webpage and via email. Pregistration opens at 8 a.m. February 22 and closes at 2 p.m. February 23. 

To View Online (Not for Comments): The meeting will be live streamed on SPSTV and broadcast on television on Comcast 26 (standard-def) and 319 (hi-def), Wave 26 (standard-def) and 695 (hi-def), and Century Link 8008 (standard-def) and 8508 (hi-def).

I have provided the link to listen to comments at point #3 above. I listened to the whole thing; it made for interesting listening. 

First and foremost, there seems to be a concerted campaign to keep current superintendent Brent Jones. Now we were all told he was an interim, it's not in his contract to stay (not really true) and indeed the district hired a search firm (which is costing thousands of dollars). 

VP Chandra Hampson (filling in for the traveling president, Brandon Hersey) said that they wanted help to create a profile of an SPS superintendent, looking for strengths and sustained focus as well as other  characteristics and qualifications.

I won't go thru all the comments but here's what I heard:

- First speaker was Special Education PTSA president, Janis White. She stated that there have always been issues with how Special Education students have been served but that COVID served to magnify them. She said that the strategic plan, Seattle Excellence, missed the African American boys who have IEPs, noting that 23% of all AA boys in SPS have an IEP. 

(I'll just throw in that just as the district does not seem to care/acknowledge those Black boys in that program, they also fail to understand that they are missing a lot of Black children who would likely qualify for the Advanced Learning program.) 

She said the district needed to be both anti-racist AND anti-ableism.

- There were at least two speakers who talked about having a variety of programs in schools as well as smaller schools.

- Former Seattle Council PTSA president Manuela Slye spoke well of Jones and of keeping him on. She claimed that he has great working relationships with many communities. Well, that certainly does not appear true from the view of the Special Education community on Facebook. Jones hasn't reached out to that community - even as it has many Black students within it. Perhaps Slye doesn't know that.

- One speaker said the Board would be "stupid" to not keep Jones on. 

- Another speaker said that Jones had put together a great group of senior staffers (this as two of the top ones have just tried to jump ship). 

- What I found interesting is the number of people who were clearly reading statements from a screen. It's worth noting because most of these forums have people NOT reading statements but rather, speaking from the heart. 

The phrase "lived experience" came up again and again about Jones.

- At least on commenter had worked with Jones at King County and thought he was great there and should continue at SPS. Also to put out there, Jones convinced Rob Gannon, now Deputy Superintendent at SPS, who he worked with at King County, out of retirement to come join him at SPS. 

- Another parent - of a student at Pathfinder K-8 -was enthusiastic about Jones. And yet there was a major racial incident at Pathfinder last year and I find it odd that this parent made no mention of this in terms of how Jones handled it. (More to come on this topic.)

- Another parent spoke of Jones' "clear, coherent and precise comments." I wish she would point to more than two statements of this type from Jones. I find his public comments to be mostly happy, vague talk. This is something I saw in his previous role in SPS where you'd be at a committee meeting where he had to give a report and it took 3 minutes. And he rarely provided a written copy (even as I asked him for one). 

- There was a speaker from the Seattle Chamber of Commerce endorsing keeping Jones on to which I'll say if the business community wants him, that's a bit of a red flag to pay attention to. 

Lastly and MOST importantly, I hope you hear this from me.

SPS has a mixed history of interim superintendents. In 2011, Susan Enfield became the interim superintendent after Superintendent Maria Goodloe Johnson was fired over financial irregularities.  She had the job a year and then the Board invited her to throw her hat in the ring for permanent superintendent. She took issue with having to apply and left the district to be super in Highline SD.

Then we had Larry Nyland who was interim superintendent after Jose Banda left. He was said to be there for a year and then the Board extended that another year and then declined to do so again in late 2016. Many, including SEA and PASS, were unhappy that he was not kept on. Here's part of what they said  about the process in a Crosscut article:

The Seattle School Board could have developed a six-month process that included reaching out to families and communities to host multiple public meetings in all parts of the city. It hasn’t. By partnering with community organizations to host parent engagement meetings, the school board could have included community voice. 

This is unacceptable. Board members should be actively engaging all kinds of families and students to learn about their hopes, dreams and interests for the future of Seattle’s schools. Board members should get out of the Stanford building and get into communities where people actually live and go to school.

Well, this Board is doing even less. I'm quite surprised to not hear this same outcry now about this process. But I'm sure the Board will point to "community" listening sessions that are being done quietly.

Two comment sessions do not community engagement make.

My main point is that if Dr. Jones wants the job, he should apply for it. He was never vetted. Communities were not asked anything about his appointment as interim. And yet some believe, in some defacto manner, that he should keep the job. 

I think he should be asked to apply; if he truly is the right person, then he will keep his job.  I urge you to tell the Board this (spsdirectors@seattleschools.org).

I'm betting you'll see an editorial and/or op-ed piece soon in some local media source endorsing Jones to stay on.